Category: Manitoba

Hundreds are dead as tensions continue to rise in the country

By Austin Grabish, CBC News

Posted: Jul 22, 2016 5:00 AM CT
Last Updated: Jul 22, 2016 5:00 AM CT

Elizabeth Andrea, 51, returned to Winnipeg from South Sudan on Thursday, July 21st. The Winnipeg grandma had to take cover during a violent clash between South Sudan’s government and rebel forces earlier this month. (Austin Grabish/CBC)

When Elizabeth Andrea saw the armoured car, she knew something wasn’t right. But when she saw people running, she knew she had to take cover.

The Winnipeg grandmother returned home Thursday from a peacekeeping trip to Rumbek that came to a crashing halt due to escalating violence in South Sudan.

Recent clashes between the country’s military and rebel forces have left at least 300 dead. Andrea was in Juba, South Sudan’s capital when fighting erupted on July 7th.

“We saw people running,” she said. “We saw the bodies.”

Andrea said she ran to the concrete home she was staying in when the violent clash happened and credits it with saving her life.

“I was just so scared.”

Speaking in her Winnipeg home Thursday, she said she thought to herself, “I’m there. My children are here, and somebody could die anytime.”

She said she worried she was going to be caught in the crossfire when she was trying to make it home to Winnipeg. The country’s airport was shut down due to the escalating violence, and the Canadian embassy was also closed.

‘We didn’t expect that kind of thing would happen again’

Andrea, who immigrated to Winnipeg in 1998 from South Sudan, said the killings in her country shocked her.

“We didn’t expect that kind of thing would happen again.”

“It’s out of control,” she said as a poster of Nelson Mandela hanging in her living room peeked over her shoulder.

South Sudanese community grappling with news

Reuben Garang, a South Sudanese man, who is better known as a ‘Lost Boy’ for fleeing his country in 1987 with thousands of other children, said the news coming from home is “very disturbing.”

Reuben Garang, who is known as a ‘Lost Boy’ for fleeing South Sudan in 1987 with thousands of other children, said Winnipeg’s South Sudanese community is trying to stay united. (Austin Grabish/CBC)

“For a long time, I have never lost hope. This time, it’s very difficult for me not to say that I’m not losing hope, and this is because of the complexity of the situation,” Garang told CBC Radio Thursday.

Garang said the war is creating division in the South Sudanese community, and its local leaders are trying to keep people united.

“It is very difficult to imagine that our own leaders, people that have helped in the struggle (for independence) have turned the country into a killing ground.”

Andrea said despite the violence, she remains hopeful the government and opposition forces will be able to work out a peace agreement.

Turner is a wheelchair user registered with Handi-Transit but rides regular transit because she has a free card from the program.

She got the card after hearing about free fare through a friend who also had a card.

“I try to avoid using Handi-Transit just because you have to book in advance and then you’re on their schedule,” Turner said.

Eva Beaudoin is the chair of the Disabled Women’s Network of Manitoba and said she never heard about the free fare program until CBC News contacted her.

Beaudoin, 58, lives with a disability, uses a cane to get around, and is on a fixed income.

She uses Winnipeg Transit for convenience and sits in priority seating on the bus but said she would apply for Handi-Transit just to receive the free fare.

Eva Beaudoin is the chair of the Disabled Women’s Network of Manitoba and said she’s never heard about a free fare program that lets Handi-Transit users ride the regular bus for free. (Austin Grabish/CBC )

“I think it should be done for everybody all people with disabilities,” Beaudoin said.

“It would save a lot of money.”

Josh Brandon, a community animator for the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, said the free fare program should be better advertised so it can reach more people. He suggested the city advertise directly on Winnipeg Transit buses.

Brandon said Handi-Transit is already a program difficult for many to get into.

“There’s always a problem when you have programs that are application based.” “That’s why we prefer programs that are more universal,” he said.

City of Winnipeg spokeswoman Alissa Clark said in order to ride regular transit for free, Handi-Transit users must obtain a photo ID card, which is good for three years.

Clark said the majority of Handi-Transit users have impairments that prevent them from using Winnipeg Transit and suggested that could be the reason for the discrepancy in the numbers.

Advocates say the City of Winnipeg should advertise a city program better that lets Handi-Transit users ride Winnipeg Transit for free. (Austin Grabish/CBC)

She said letters are sent out to all Handi-Transit users who qualify for the program and clients are also informed about the free program verbally.

But some say they were never told about the program.

Libby Zdriluk, 30, uses both Handi-Transit and Winnipeg Transit to get around. She said she didn’t know about the waived fare program until a free card arrived in the mail one day.

“It just showed up,” Zdriluk said.

“Obviously, I was pretty mad to find out I could’ve been riding for free,” she added.

Scott Best is legally blind and has a free fare card. But the 26-year-old said he hardly uses it because he finds Winnipeg Transit too difficult to navigate.

He said the free fare program feels “a little weird” since he can’t use it easily.

There was no official tally of those in attendance, but an RCMP spokesman estimated as many as 3,000 came out to today’s march and rally.

There were so many people out in support of Steinbach’s first Pride, the march and a rally that followed at city hall were delayed twice.

“Apparently, our roads are not designed for love,” one man shouted.

Many supporters showed up with signs.

McHale told a packed children’s park, where the march started, traffic was bumper to bumper backed up all the way to Ste. Anne Man., located some 15 minutes outside the city.

Numbers aside, history was made today in this rural Manitoba city.

Many in Steinbach, a staunchly Conservative community, have fought for months against today’s march. Some threatened to protest.

Supporters of Steinbach Pride came out in droves.

But there were no protesters seen on city streets here today.

Instead, a sea of rainbow colours and signs denouncing homophobic comments made by some community members brushed over this normally quiet city.

Months of controversy surrounded today’s march.

Some criticized the noticeable absence of local politicians like Conservative MP Ted Falk, who said attending Pride would go against his beliefs. Others held signs saying, “God loves gays” and “cancer is not caused by homosexuality.”

Some held signs denouncing the decision by local politicians like Conservative MP Ted Falk to skip Steinbach’s first Pride.

Jennifer Schroeder, 24, is from Steinbach and held a pink sign that said “Jesus had two dads and turned out fine.”

Schroeder said she knew holding the sign went against her family’s beliefs.

“We need to break the lines,” “You know there’s tension here in the community, and we need change to happen.”

Mason Godwaldt, 18, was instrumental in organizing Saturday’s march.

The trans man came out last June and said although there’s lots of positive change happening in Steinbach many are still scared to admit they are part of the LGBT community.

“That’s because there are still so many people that don’t agree with it. So instead of being shunned by family and friends they hide who they are. They put on a mask and deny them true selves. I know this because I lived that life,” Godwaldt said.

Michelle McHale gets ready to speak on the steps of Steinbach City Hall, which refused to support its community’s first Pride.

Most of the supporters at Pride that spoke with Daily Xtra were from Winnipeg, but McHale said there were plenty from Steinbach.

She said she was surprised there were no protesters since some had threatened to take to the streets.

Still, McHale said she expects local queer people will be shunned in the future, but she left those people with a strong message.

“We will not be silent any longer.”

“Love is love is love,” shouted a woman in the crowd after McHale made the comment.

McHale said her message to local LGBT people living in the area to find their allies.

“Allies want to help, but they don’t always know to do,” she said.

Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen was also absent from Saturday’s Pride. He didn’t return requests for comment.

Michelle McHale is organizing Steinbach’s first Pride march on July 9, 2016. Many in Steinbach, a staunchly Conservative and predominately Mennonite city, are opposed to homosexuality. (Austin Grabish/Daily Xtra) Gay history is expected to be made this weekend in the Bible Belt of Manitoba.

Steinbach, Manitoba’s third largest city, is gearing up for its very first Pride march and the celebration is already rife with controversy.

The march, scheduled to take place Saturday, July 9, 2016, is the result of a long-fought battle in the predominantly Mennonite community.

Organizer Michelle McHale doesn’t think it will become violent but says to expect resistance.

“I do expect protesters. I expect that to happen just given some of the things that we’ve heard,” she says.

“It’s all kind of surreal,” she adds of the parade she never thought would come to Steinbach.

The battle to this point

The battle over LGBT rights in Steinbach boiled over this spring after school board trustees bristled first at McHale’s request, then at a student’s request to revise their guidelines prohibiting discussion of LGBT issues until high school.

Steinbach’s newspaper the Carillon reported that trustee Lynn Barkman opposed introducing LGBT issues in middle school because, she believes, students are not equipped to understand the complexities of sexuality.

Teachers, students and parents in the district “know that our culture is changing,” she said according to the Carillon, but “that does not suggest that we should abandon truth.”

“I thought it was one of the loudest cheers any trustee got,” Froese said in a message.

McHale and her partner, who left Steinbach in May, have now filed a human rights complaint against the Hanover School Division for its ongoing refusal to allow classroom discussions of LGBT issues until high school due to their “sensitive” nature.

(Michelle McHale left Steinbach after facing backlash for her attempt to bring LGBT issues into school curriculum. She says her son was also bullied for having two moms./Austin Grabish/Daily Xtra)

People living with disabilities are calling on the City of Winnipeg to make sure they can catch a seat on the bus hassle-free.

Advocates say overcrowded buses and parents with strollers are leaving wheelchair users on the curb.

The Independent Living Resource Centre said parents with strollers are taking up accessibility spots on buses on a daily basis.

Allen Mankewich, a wheelchair user and consultant with the Independent Living Resource Centre, said it’s an issue he deals with regularly.

“I had an issue myself the other day. There was myself on the bus, one of my colleagues [and an] oversized stroller with three wheels on the bus,” Mankewich said.

Allen Mankewich, a wheelchair user and consultant with the Independent Living Resource Centre, said Winnipeg Transit should create a policy so oversized strollers don’t take wheelchair spots on Winnipeg Transit buses. (Austin Grabish/CBC)

“We basically had to play Tetris to get ourselves in and out of the bus.”

Libby Zdriluk, 30, uses a power wheelchair to get around and said she’s had to wait in frigid temperatures during the winter because strollers have taken the only space available for wheelchairs.

She wants Winnipeg Transit drivers to make sure wheelchair users get on the bus hassle- and confrontation-free.

Currently people with disabilities are being left to fend for themselves, she said.

“I just wish the drivers would automatically say ‘move over’ or ‘get off the bus for a minute,’ but they just don’t seem to do that,” she said.

The City of Winnipeg said it has decals on all of its low-floor buses to indicate designated areas for wheelchairs and strollers.

Spokeswoman Alissa Clark said drivers are trained to help passengers with wheelchairs or strollers and are supposed to ask riders without mobility issues to move if a seat is needed.

But Eva Beaudoin, 58, said it’s always a struggle finding room on the bus when there’s a stroller. She said she finds it awkward asking people to move so she can ride the bus.

“I have to practically ask for a seat and then I get a dirty look,” Beaudoin said.

“People don’t move.”

But not everyone in the disability community feels wheelchairs should be given priority over strollers.

Winnipeg disability advocate Jim Derksen said he wants the City of Winnipeg to add more flexible seating on its buses, so both wheelchairs and strollers have more room.

“I believe in universal design and don’t think our needs are any more important than parents with children,” Derksen said.

John Callahan, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505, which represents Winnipeg bus drivers, said the union wants more buses put on the street to help deal with the issue.

He said drivers have raised concerns about strollers taking accessibility spots on the bus and the absence of a policy instructing drivers what to do about it.

“It’s something that’s been around for a long time, but there’s been no official stand on how to approach it,” Callahan said.

“I think they need to look real seriously at it.”

U.K. Supreme Court case

In the U.K., the battle between a wheelchair user and a bus firm has gone to the country’s Supreme Court.

Disability activist Doug Paulley took his case to a lower court in 2012 after being told he could not get on a bus when a mother with a stroller refused to move.

The Supreme Court held a hearing into the case in June and Paulley said he hopes to receive a ruling from the court in the coming months.

He said he is optimistic about the case and hopes it will end with better enforcement of the rights of people with disabilities.

The so-called ‘star’ candidate who is running for the NDP in Fort Rouge was finally starting to feel the heat yesterday, as the Liberals called for his resignation over past tweets he made that the party deemed offensive.

The tweets, which made fun of gays, lesbians, First Nations children and fat women, came to light last Monday, a day after the 34-year-old faced criticism and re-apologized for past misogynistic and homophobic song lyrics he wrote as a rapper.

But the criticism for Kinew wasn’t a problem – people seemed to believe Kinew’s apology and the media did not scrutinize him for his tweets.

Yet just a week prior, the NDP called on Jamie Hall, a Liberal candidate, to resign over social media posts he made that referred to women as whores and skanks.

Hall, unlike Kinew, was rightfully scrutinized in the media and then stepped down.

Some argued an apology Kinew made years prior for his lyrics was good enough, but it’s hard to use that apology as justification for ignoring his tweets.

The tweets, which were dug up by Winnipeg political consultant David Shorr, who is the former director of communications for the Liberal Party, are disturbing.

Kinew tweeted “Riding in my limo back to my king sized sweet feeling really bad for those kids in Attawapiskat #haha #terrible #inative.”

The Ontario First Nation is plagued by poverty and other social issues and was dealing with a housing crisis at the time of Kinew’s tweet.

In a reply to a 2009 tweet about H1N1, Kinew asked: “Is it true you can get it from kissing fat chicks?”

In another tweet, Kinew said he was going to wrestling class “Because jiu-jitsu wasn’t gay enough” and “My bro is convinced that ‘Do you like the 90s?’ is a gay pick up line.”

Kinew also tweeted about running over a cat and posted a photo of an aboriginal person sleeping on the ground.

But perhaps even more troubling is that these tweets were made when Kinew was employed as a broadcaster at the CBC and associate vice-president of indigenous affairs at the University of Winnipeg.

On Friday, Kinew told a wall of media he’s been an ‘open book,’ transparent, and accountable.

He said the tweets were made when he was an angry young man suffering from self-hatred and arrogance.

But some of that arrogance seemed to continue as he snapped at reporters, who pressed him while he stood next to Premier Greg Selinger.

At one point, Selinger had to tell Kinew to keep his cool.

And on Friday evening, a quick glance at Kinew’s Instagram account revealed more questionable posts for a politician to have.